WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday congratulated the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its leader, Tarique Rahman, following their election victory, signaling Washington’s readiness to work with the new government in Dhaka.
“Congratulations to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its leader, Tarique Rahman, as well as the people of Bangladesh,” Rubio said in a post on social media platform X.
“The United States looks forward to working with the newly elected government to advance prosperity and the security of the region,” he added.
Rubio’s remarks came as senior U.S. administration officials underscored Bangladesh’s growing strategic importance in South Asia during a congressional hearing earlier this week.
Testifying before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapur expressed optimism about the country’s electoral process.
“We’re excited about it,” Kapur said. “We’ve been in touch with the interim government. They’ve been — I think they have a strong sense of their responsibility in making this go forward in a way that is secure and peaceful.”
He added, “And we hope that, that is, in fact, what happens, we expect it will be. We look forward to working with, um, whatever government is elected there.”
Kapur also pointed to expanding economic ties between Washington and Dhaka, telling lawmakers that the Trump administration recently signed a trade deal with Bangladesh that would give American exporters access to the country’s market of roughly 175 million people.
Placing Bangladesh within a broader regional context, Kapur said countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan hold outsized strategic importance because of their locations, while also facing risks of external pressure.
He said U.S. engagement in the region is aimed at strengthening partners’ autonomy and resilience.
Defence cooperation with the United States, Kapur noted, “helps them to protect their borders and waterways against encroaching powers,” while carefully targeted investment can provide “high quality, transparent, non-coercive support” for critical infrastructure such as ports, telecommunications networks, and energy facilities, helping countries avoid the risks associated with debt-trap diplomacy. (Source: IANS)
